


Unmatched

by racheltuckerrr



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Cat!backstory happened and now here we are, F/F, I don't know what this is I don't even know if I like it I don't know anything, Matchmaker!Cat, all I know is it was gonna be a light comedic piece and then, dating agency au, story of my life at this point honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 07:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10692492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/racheltuckerrr/pseuds/racheltuckerrr
Summary: After Alex finds her soulmate with this supposedly fantastic soul-matching agency, Kara says what the hell and gives it a try. Suffice it to say, things don't quite turn out the way she imagined... but is that necessarily a bad thing? (No, it isn't.)





	Unmatched

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what I'm doing with this one, honestly. I just knew I'd regret it if I didn't do it.  
> Also, is anyone here familiar with the musical Waitress? I may or may not have been listening to [When He Sees Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf7N1iYWIKs) on repeat while I was writing this.

Kara marches into the Catco Matching Agency first thing in the morning, her righteous indignation fuelling every step she takes better than she herself could.

By the time she’s on the 40th floor where she knows the CEO’s office is, she is so worked up that she strides right past the poor assistant who tries her best to tell Kara that she, in fact, cannot go in there without an appointment.

Too bad.

“I demand to be reimbursed!” Kara says in lieu of a greeting and crosses her arms over her chest, planting her feet in the middle of the spacious glass office in a clear indication of challenge.

Striking hazel eyes meet Kara’s own across the room as the woman lifts her head and their eyes lock for a long moment, but she doesn’t react other than raising a single brow at Kara in silent question and… _amusement?_  No way.

Kara stands her ground, refusing to back down for a second and instead takes the opportunity to take in the appearance of the woman who is apparently responsible for her current predicament.

Even though the huge desk she’s perched behind is obscuring her view, Kara can tell she has a nice figure as she sits behind it, poised, like she’s royalty. Looking at the way her golden hair falls over her shoulders in perfectly styled curls that frame her face just right, Kara might even believe that she is.

“I am s-so sorry, Miss Grant!” cries the young girl Kara just breezed past only seconds ago, as she rushes in behind her. “I really tried to stop her, but she’s very strong –“

“You may go, Miss Tessmacher,” the blonde woman silences her with a flick of a wrist and Kara has to will her eyes from bulging out of her head at that blatant display of power.

The assistant gratefully retreats back to her desk and Kara is alone with the woman at last. Cat Grant. The founder and CEO of the most successful soul-matching agency in all of National City, maybe America, possibly the world.

“And how, pray tell, may I be of assistance to you…?” she asks, and the intonation in her voice suggests that she’s waiting for an answer.

“Kara. Kara Danvers.”

At the expectant look on the CEO’s face Kara can’t stop herself from letting out an angry huff of, “You have no idea why I’m here, do you?”

“Should I?”

“Well, I guess not. Why should you know what goes on in your own agency when you have your minions do all the dirty work for you?” Kara spits the last word out like it’s poisonous, “ _Figures_.”

Cat rises from the desk and Kara was right, her figure is exquisite, but what’s even more striking is the fire swirling in the green of her eyes as she holds her ground against the unexpected onslaught.

“Contrary to popular belief,” she starts in a voice that makes it clear that the stage is hers and hers alone, “sitting on the throne doesn’t just entail ordering people around and flicking my wrist to my heart’s content.”

Kara snorts at that and Cat ignores her.

“I track all the matches personally, _thank you very much_ , but it takes time. Catco is the number one soul-matching service after all,” she says triumphantly as she puts a hand on her hip, daring Kara to contradict her.

“That may be, but the Daily Cupid is not that far behind and Lois Lane seems like a far better –“

“Don’t you dare! Lois is a shrew and I guarantee you will get mismatched if you use her services. She’s done it before, you know, several times in fact,” she says eyes glinting. “I’m keeping score.”

Kara can’t help but roll her eyes at that, because of course.

“Catco however, has never matched anyone incorrectly. Ever. Our customers are always happy, _I_ make sure of it.”

“Well, this is gonna be a first then. I’m _not_ happy. I want my money back.”

“Oh, please,” the blonde CEO says as she sits back into her chair with a bored expression that only infuriates Kara further. “You’re just like every other millennial when they find out that their first match is not ‘ _the one_ ’. It happens, you know. A single soul match is an incredibly rare thing and most people are unfortunately not that lucky. I never promised to serve that one person up on a silver platter, even if there was such a thing, which I personally don’t think so.”

“You _don’t?"_  Kara asks, her sudden curiosity overshadowing everything else for the time being.

“No,” Cat shakes her head firmly. “I don’t advertise my views on the matter too much, because I know it would provoke distrust in me and my agency, even despite Catco’s continued success, simply because people romanticize the idea of soulmates way too much.”

When Kara starts to protest she is cut off by another infuriating hand gesture. “Don’t get me wrong, I can certainly understand the motivation behind that. In fact, I understand it so much, I built my career on it,” she finishes with another dramatic hand flick to indicate their surroundings.

“The point is, that unlike Lois Lane and all the hags at the Daily Cupid who’d be willing to sell you any fairytale bullshit, even if it means some people don’t actually get their money’s worth, here at Catco we stick to real things, facts and figures, simply because it works. We use every piece of information available to provide you with the most suitable soul matches, however many there may be. You might have two, or twelve, or twenty-two, or even just one if you’re really lucky... I make no promises about that. The rest is up to you.”

And that may be a spectacularly convincing sales pitch to anyone else, but Kara knows better. It’s the reason she’s here, after all. She’s so ready to share that opinion too, but Cat is apparently still not done.

“What I do promise is to give you a starting point.”

And that’s an even better opening than Kara hoped for. “But you didn’t.”

“Excuse me?"

“ _You. Didn’t_.” Kara enunciates loudly before reaching into her bag and showing Cat the offending piece of paper. “See that? No match found.”

Cat takes the printed page of the Catco website and frowns at the empty black rectangle under Kara’s name, the one that’s supposed to contain the number of soul matches found, before listing each of them below in neat, alphabetical order.

There’s nothing there.

Cat blinks once. Twice. Still nothing.

“You printed it?” she can’t help but chuckle at Kara then, even as the wheels in her head have already began turning.

“I was mad.”

“I can _see_ that,” Cat says, still holding onto the piece of paper and Kara notes it’s the first time since she’s set foot in the woman’s office that she clearly has nothing to say.

When Kara keeps waiting for an answer she finally lifts her head. “I don’t know what to say, quite frankly. This,” Cat gestures at the offending, empty black box on the paper in her hand, “has never happened before.”

Then suddenly a brief flicker of _something_ flashes across her face and she sucks in a deep breath. “Well…”

“Well _what?"_

“Nothing. Let me call my match coordinator, see if she can help us. Excuse me.”

Kara barely has time to distastefully mouth the words ‘match coordinator’ at Cat’s retreating back before she’s on the phone with a woman named Lucy, who apparently promises to join them shortly.

When Kara thinks the day couldn’t get any weirder, the infamous match coordinator turns out to be Lucy Lane, sister to the woman who runs Catco’s biggest competitor. When Kara mentions the conflict of interest, Lucy just smiles indulgently, winking at Cat as she says,

“Oh, it’s alright. My sister _is_ a bitch.”

Kara throws her hands up in the air in defeat. No wonder these people couldn’t find her a match if they can’t even keep their own house in order.

But she can’t help but wonder for a fleeting second who Cat’s match could be. Despite her almost celebrity status, the woman has managed to keep a tight lid on her private life and Kara is surprised at how much she finds herself wanting to know this about her.

It probably takes around an hour, but to Kara it feels like a small eternity as she answers a list of never-ending questions about her preferences, likes, dislikes, personal strengths and weaknesses. It’s a droning process and it makes her feel all kinds of vulnerable, even if she quite likes the little smile playing around Cat’s lips after some of Kara’s answers.

Other than that, the only mildly interesting thing is when Lucy lets it slip that Kara’s case isn’t entirely as unique as she was led to believe.

“There has been exactly one other person that this happened to,” Lucy says quietly, deliberately not looking at Cat and Kara can understand that when she all but sees the daggers shooting from those hazel eyes in the ‘Greater Lane’s’ direction.

When Kara asks who it was, still driven by her earlier irritation even if there is no temper behind it anymore, Lucy only shakes her head, “I’ve already said too much.”

Kara doesn’t know what to say to that and the brunette soon bids them goodbye, but not before assuring Kara that this mistake will be rectified, no matter what.

“She’s very dedicated,” Kara says to Cat after Lucy’s already left.

“They all are,” Cat nods. “I really am sorry about all this, Kara, but now you know that I’ll do whatever it takes to find you a match.”

“Thank you,” Kara says sincerely, before adding somewhat sheepishly, “and I’m sorry I misjudged you.”

Cat finally laughs at that, telling Kara that she’s going to have to do a lot worse than that to make her flinch, and there is something about the way she says it that makes Kara believe her.

They agree to meet again next week, hopefully to get to the bottom of Kara’s match-mystery, and, despite everything, Kara finds herself looking forward to her next chance to see Cat.

She’s halfway out the door when she suddenly turns back, unable to be rid of that last stray thought that keeps knocking on the back door of her mind.

“Cat,” she says, carefully waiting until the by now almost familiar pair of green eyes meet her own. “Who was it?”

She has her suspicions, and the fact that Cat knows exactly what she’s asking without clarification is a clue on its own.

The way she clenches her jaw and swallows hard before giving her answer is another.

“ _Me_.”

 

* * *

  

“Any luck?” Kara asks Lucy when she runs into her on the way to Cat’s office a week later.

The brunette only shakes her head, “No, nothing yet. I’m sorry, Kara.”

Kara sighs, but figures she might as well go in to see Cat if she’s already here. But definitely not because she’s been looking forward to this or anything. Of course not.

“If you do go in there…” Lucy says quietly, and Kara hopes it’s just a coincidence and she can’t actually read minds too. “Well, I think you should know she’s a little…on edge. She usually is when her son is away,” Lucy adds softly before realizing her mistake.

Kara blinks. Cat has a _son_.

“I – you didn’t hear that from me,” Lucy warns before saying a hasty goodbye and muttering something about being a blabbermouth.

Kara shakes her head at no one in particular, and it’s hard to believe that this is only the second time she’s been here, with how familiar this feels already.

Especially when she lays eyes on the small blonde woman working diligently behind her enormous desk, typing away at her computer with a pair of glasses perched on her nose. Kara leans into the doorway to take advantage of Cat’s iron focus and use the opportunity to study her.

She’s wearing an orange dress that’s so striking in colour that Kara swears no one else could pull it off. And yet, somehow Cat does and that’s another testament to her character in Kara’s eyes.

Or it could be that her crush is just getting out of control. _Already_.

She sighs as she steps into the glass office and Cat takes in a ragged breath, seemingly steeling herself for whatever is about to come. But then she looks up into Kara’s eyes and her shoulders sag immediately in something akin to relief.

“Oh, it’s you,” she sighs. _Interesting_. “I’m sorry to say I still don’t have any –“

“I know, Lucy told me,” Kara waves a hand dismissively. “I thought I’d drop in on you anyway.”

“ _Oh_.”

“Just to talk,” Kara starts slowly and without any ulterior motives in mind whatsoever. “You could ask me some more questions if you like.”

“Oh, really?” Cat asks and there is the whisper of a smile there at the corner of her mouth that tells Kara she made the right call.

“You know, just to be sure,” she goes on to explain anyway. “You cannot be too careful when it comes to sharing your life, Cat.”

“I agree,” Cat’s eyes flash as something dark crosses her irises and Kara has to bite her tongue so she doesn’t overstep, she wants to _know_ so much.

“We have a responsibility here to make sure that whoever you find for me is worth the wait,” she says instead, seeing work as the safest course of action for the moment.

“Well then. Let’s start.”

 

* * *

 

It takes several more meetings after that, some of which have absolutely nothing to do with the reason they’re happening in the first place, and everything to do with two people enjoying each other’s company, and on a particularly sunny Wednesday afternoon Cat finally returns the favour and opens up to Kara.

It starts innocently enough, as things often do, with a question. This one is about Catco of all things, and Kara’s desire to find out why Cat decided to build it in the first place.

Cat sits behind her desk as per usual, while Kara sits across from her, curiously waiting for an answer, completely unaware of what a loaded question it is that just passed her lips.

“It’s a long story,” Cat starts after a heavy sigh, and Kara knows an out when she hears one.

“I’d really like to know,” she says before quickly adding, “but only if you’re comfortable sharing it, of course.”

“Oh, Kara. There is no need for that,” Cat says with a vague hand gesture before reaching up and taking off her glasses.

That’s Kara’s first clue that this may not be an afternoon tea kind of conversation.

And it really isn’t.

Kara finds out more about Cat that afternoon than she ever expected or could have hoped for and most of it isn’t nice or good.

It does however explain a lot, and Kara finds herself almost holding back tears as Cat recounts details of her childhood and tells Kara about her parents whose failed relationship was ultimately the catalyst for the creation of Catco.

“They both had their potential soulmate matches before they met, but my father’s first wife died in a terminal illness soon after they got married,” Cat said with a heaviness in her voice.

“And my mother never could accept anyone as good enough, match or not mind you, and definitely not in her vain youth. Or ever since, but that’s neither here nor there. By the time she started to panic that she would never marry and would shamefully die alone, well, there weren’t all that many people left to choose from.”

Kara could only nod and reach a hand across the table to squeeze Cat’s in a show of compassion, and Cat rewarded her with a half-smile to show her gratitude.

“You can imagine the rest. They were never happy. My entire childhood is a testament to that, my entire life really. Hence Catco.”

Kara shook her head slowly, “I’m not sure I follow.”

“It’s simple, really. My parents were so badly matched that I made it my life’s mission to make sure that never happens again. That no child has to suffer through what I have. Basically, I’ve decided to fasten the whole process by creating a platform that helps people find their other halves, call them soulmates or whatever you will, before any problems could come of it.”

Cat shrugs, “Well, that, and it also minimizes the guessing game.”

“You really don’t like guessing, do you?” Kara smiles, but it’s wistful, and the pensive look on her face suggests that she’s seeing Cat in an entirely new light.

“ _What?"_

“Do you really have such a sceptical view of love?”

Cat sighs, “Of course, not. But it’s not that simple.”

Kara hums, but doesn’t let her off the hook that easily, needing an answer that tells her more than Cat is attempting to placate her with. Always needing _more_.

“You know my story Kara,” Cat whispers after a minute of silence. “Because it’s the same as yours.”

Kara sucks in a breath at the first open admission of their unique situation, the first time that Cat has openly acknowledged in any way since Kara found out, the existence of this particular link between them.

“That gives me an idea,” Kara says as a thought occurs to her that should have been obvious from the very beginning. “But you have to promise to keep an open mind.”

Cat narrows her eyes, but it’s definitely not a rejection, and in the end, does it really matter if Kara asks her out just to prove her wrong? Well, okay, maybe not _just_.

In any case, they’re about to find out.

 

* * *

 

Kara wakes up in a tangled mess of sheets and limbs in a bedroom that isn’t her own with the first rays of sun peeking in through the half-open curtains. The smile that takes over her face at seeing the blonde curls sprawled across her chest could light up the entire room.

Cat only wakes up an hour later, raising her head from where it’s resting on Kara’s chest when she feels slow fingers weaving through her already tousled hair.

Kara thinks she looks almost angelic in the morning light and she knows in that moment that she’s never seen anything more beautiful.

“Hey,” Cat croaks as she cracks a smile at Kara who can’t help but smile back.

That seems to be a permanent fixture lately.

“Hey yourself.”

“Guess what?” Cat asks as she leans her forehead against Kara’s, the ends of her still wavy hair tickling the skin of Kara’s throat. Not that she minds, really.

Not at all.

“What?”

“Looks like we did manage to find you a match after all,” Cat whispers, hazel eyes sparkling at Kara in the soft sunlight.

Kara only hums as she leans down to kiss her softly.

One night with this woman and all she wants is more. More kisses, more smiles, more skin, more… _Cat_. No matter what that entails.

“I guess you can keep my money then,” Kara whispers in Cat’s ear and laughs at the half-hearted punch she receives in turn.

She’s found her match alright.

No doubt about it.

**Author's Note:**

> So one of the many aspects that went unexplored in this fic is the fact that Kara is an alien, which if you look closely I purposefully didn't delve into, simply because I didn't have the energy for it. This is just a sidenote that in my mind it is heavily implied that that's the reason for both her and Cat not having a clear soul-match in this AU.


End file.
